Millions of people suffer from bone fractures each year. Treatment of this condition is frequently accomplished by rigid fixation which involves affixing a load carrier (e.g. a bone plate, a rod, etc.) to a patient's bone fragments via a plurality of bone fixation elements (e.g. bone screws, hooks, fixation members, rivets, etc.) in order to stabilize bone fragments relative to each other.
Dynamic fixation of the load carrier is believed to reduce the amount of stress generally associated with rigid fixation. In some cases the load carrier is affixed to the bone fragments using dynamic locking crews. Certain dynamic locking screws include a fixation member that is welded to a sleeve. The sleeves engage bone and the fixation member is movable about the weld and relative to the sleeve to thereby allow for micro-movement of the bone fragments relative to each other. Known dynamic locking screws may be costly to manufacture and may be difficult to manufacture for certain applications. Therefore, improved dynamic fixation elements may be desired.